Afternoon Gingham Quilt

Sunday, 11 January 2015

We love Lotta Jansdotter's work (see previous post) and when we unpacked Follie, thought the oversized prints would look fab used on their own to make a wholecloth quilt.*

As the resident quilter, I squirrelled away some of the oversized gingham, and there was an intense staff meeting at which the only topic was deciding which colour to do the binding. The citron was chosen as it complements the grey, and creates a contrast, however it would look great using any colour (as proved by the discussion!)

The quilt was easy to make, the perfect project if you have a quick baby quilt to make. I didn't mark the quilting lines, just used the print as a guide, put the radio on and got down to work.

It is also good to have a rotary cutting set for squaring up the quilt top, and cutting the binding, however scissors could be used.

Instructions

Press the fabric for the quilt top, then cut so it is 90cm square. Press the backing fabric

Layer the quilt. Place the Backing fabric on a surface (right side down if you are using a print), then place the wadding on top. Smooth, then place the gingham fabric on top, in the centre. Smooth so there are no bumps, and place safety pins through the layers every 4 inches, working methodically from the centre out to the edges.

Thread up the sewing machine, and set the stitch length to 3 (or to your usual machine quilting setting). Starting with a middle row, quilt along the centre of each of the printed lines. They are slightly wavy so use your eye to guide the quilt though the machine.

Trim the backing and wadding level with the quilt top.

Bind the quilt. Cut four strips, each 2 1/4in wide from the binding fabric. Join them together to make a long strip, and at one end fold in about 1/4in of fabric to make a small hem. Fold the strip of fabric in half, wrong sides together and press.

Starting about 1/3 of the way down one side of the quilt, sew the binding to the front of the quilt, using 1/4in seam allowance. Leave a tail of binding, about 1in, when you start as you will tuck the end into this later. Mitre the corners, and when you get to about 2in before the place you started, stop sewing. Trim the excess binding, leaving about 1/2in overlap, and tuck the raw end into the folded end and pin. Continue sewing the binding to the quilt, stitching over the join, again with a 1/4in seam allowance, and take the pin out just before it goes under the presser foot.

Fold the binding to the back, and slip stitch by hand, using a thread that tones with the colour of the binding fabric.

The quilt has been receiving some lovely comments about the design and colour fitting in well with modern interiors. I have wondered how a larger version would look on a bed - the design is easy to modify.

Happy Quilting!

*Wholecloth quilt - A quilt in which the front is one piece of fabric.